New law addresses NY’s private business schools

A new law will keep closer tabs on schools created to train adults for careers in services and business .

The measure designed to better protect students was signed into law recently by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The law gives the state Department of Education more authority to make sure the schools are using approved instruction methods and protecting students’ finances after they pay tuition.

There are more than 450 licensed, registered or certified schools instructing in various trades statewide. But up to another 1,000 are believed to be operating without a license.

State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. says the law will provide more oversight to what he called a growing and critical sector in New York education.

The measure followed cases in which students lost their tuition after some schools abruptly closed.